Episode 3

1964. At the Pentagon, America’s future in Vietnam is played out in two rooms. The war game is meant to test whether bombing North Vietnam can force a communist retreat. But the simulation points to a devastating conclusion - whatever America does, the North will keep fighting, the Viet Cong will keep being supplied, and the war cannot be won on Washington’s terms.

The CIA sees the warning clearly. John McCone tries to make LBJ listen. But the hawks in the administration dismiss the game as theory — and when the Gulf of Tonkin gives them the trigger they need, America steps towards a war the Agency already knows is doomed.

Starring Kim Cattrall, Kelsey Grammer and Johnny Flynn.

Eloise Page..........Kim Cattrall

Lyndon Baines Johnson..........Kelsey Grammer

Richard Helms..........Johnny Flynn

Young Eloise Page..........Elena Delia

Robert ‘Bob’ McNamara..........Rob Benedict

Desmond Fitzgerald..........Donald Sage Mackay

John McCone..........Tim Ahern

Peer de Silva..........Ian Porter

Barbara Robbins..........Lily Lefkow

Admiral Grant Sharp..........David Menkin

Tom Karamessines..........Akie Kotabe

Gerri Whittington..........Nettie Chickering

All other parts played by the cast

Original music by Sacha Puttnam

Written by Greg Haddrick, who created the series with Jeremy Fox

Sound Design and Editing by Adam Woodhams, Andreina Gomez Casanova and John Scott Dryden

Assistant Director: Flynn Hallman

Sonica Studio Sound Engineers: Mat Clark & Paul Clark

Margarita Sound Engineer: James Moore

Sonica Runner: Lily Lefkow

Director: John Scott Dryden

Producer & Casting Director: Emma Hearn

Executive Producers: Howard Stringer, Jeremy Fox, Greg Haddrick and John Scott Dryden.

A Goldhawk production for BBC Radio 4